“The Metaphor Minute” is a brief monthly note with examples from business, media, or politics that illustrate the power of metaphors and analogies to make a point, solve a problem, and get results. Use these stories to stimulate high pay-off metaphoric thinking in your business.
Many people ask me where to find metaphors that will work for them in business. One excellent source: political writers and commentators, liberal or conservative. Because they write for the general public, they must be masters at creating metaphors that anyone can understand. John Dickerson, author of “The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency,” is one of the best. Here are some examples from his new book. Notice how easy they are to instantly understand and how they then illuminate his point.
How do you answer, “Why should I work with you?” in a way that distinguishes you or your company in a market where you likely have a number of similar competitors? Unless you have the cure for cancer, you can’t credibly say that you are the only business that offers X. However, you can move into a more competitively advantaged position when you respond with a unique combination of descriptive metaphors.
Metaphors are the perfect tool for explaining complexity to people who have only superficial knowledge of your subject. Just ask Ryan W, Chiropractor and Exercise Research Scientist from West Australia, who uses metaphors regularly in a variety of client situations. Here are two.
Love, the most basic of humans emotions, is widely described metaphorically. On this Valentine’s Day, take a look at these love metaphors from pop culture and literature and see which one(s) comes closest to your view.
On January 6, glued to our TV sets, we watched the appalling, infuriating, and deeply unsettling attack on the State Capital by a mob of thugs. Although the facts of their actions were straightforward, people talking about the event inevitably reached for metaphors to describe what happened, once again illustrating not only the important role metaphors play in communication, but also the instinctive need we all have to frame what is new into parallel terms familiar to us. This is true in politics as well as in business. A few examples…
Online or in-person, the holidays are a time for family, fun, and food, so it seems appropriate to look at examples of how food metaphors have been used to make a point not only in business, but in the fight against Covid and in war (!) as well. See what “morsels” you can take away for your own business.
First Chief Justice Roberts at his confirmation hearing in 2005 with his baseball analogy and now, most recently, at Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing with her Jenga and chess metaphors. It is interesting to note how in high stakes – and often controversial – situations, speakers invariably reach for metaphors to make their points.
I was deeply flattered last week when a U.S. Senator’s assistant wrote to say her boss loved my metaphor book, “The Tall Lady with the Iceberg,” and would I have some time for a conversation with him? Of course, I said, “Yes.” A student of language, as all politicians–and all communicators–must be, we had a lovely conversation discussing the power of metaphors to frame an argument. For anyone who still doubts the power of metaphors to frame an issue or to shape thinking, here are two current examples from the news.
Though these issues may be of greater global import than those in your business, the key principle is the same: what people see is what they believe and what they believe drives how they act. What metaphors do you use to help people see the value that ultimately gets them to do business with you?
Octavio Urzúa is CEO OSoji Robotics, based in Chile with offices in the U.S. and Japan. He wrote to tell me how he has used metaphors successfully at critical points throughout his business life from getting a raise to positioning his start-up to hiring a new team. I am happy to share his letter and those stories to inspire ideas for your business as well.
Quick! Imagine you have to come up with a catchy name for a project and website whose mission is to expose false political information online. Knowing that the name needs to be unique, memorable, intriguing to arouse attention, and also accurately reflect the mission, what metaphor for a title comes to mind?
How do you persuade customers to use your services over those of other–often larger–competitors? How do you underscore in a vivid, compelling way the advantages you bring to the party so that customers ultimately choose you? Here is how one entrepreneur did that with great success